Love is a Warrior
by DrWhoFan71
Summary: Bianca and Marissa are so desperately close to the happiness they deserve... but could one bullet snatch everything away? What really happened that fateful night at the Chandler mansion? *Discards the PP web-series and explores an alternative version of events after AMC's final television episode* [Minx] Rated T for now
1. Prologue

**OK... so, welcome to my first ****_All My Children _****story! I've been watching back Minx's storyline on YouTube in recent days and was inspired to write my own continuation of how I think things might have gone at the end of the show's TV run, rather than the *spoiler* mess which Prospect Park made of our beloved Minx.**

**I live in the UK and was never able to watch full episodes of ****_AMC_****; what I know of the show's other characters comes simply from the Minx compilations available on YouTube and some (pretty confusing) character biographies which I've read online, so I apologise in advance if I make some mistakes with regards to some characters or simply don't include others. I'd love to watch past episodes in full but I'm not sure that's possible.**

**But, regardless, here's my take on the shooting and its aftermath. I'm not sure how long I want this to be yet but it will focus on Bianca & Marissa; I may not be able to update for a while due to crazy real-life stuff at the moment but I will do my best. I hope you like it!**

* * *

JR Chandler's fingers shook as he cradled the loaded gun in his hands, overcome by a torrent of turmoil which was raging inside his alcohol-riddled brain. He could hear the voices of Marissa, of Bianca, of Krystal, telling him that he could never see AJ again. That his son would be kept away from him… his jaw shook with fury at the thought.

But he also heard his mother, and Tad, begging him to control his anger. Sweat poured down JR's quivering brow as he tried, and failed, as he so often had, to suppress his fury. He was too much his father's son. He had failed AJ, he had failed Babe, and he had lost everything. He had nothing left to lose.

Turning back to the gap in the panel behind him, JR watched as Tad gave some kind of speech about Pine Valley. It was all just a deafening buzz to JR, unable to compete with the pounding of blood in his ears – that is, until Tad mentioned those who were no longer with them. Babe surged to the front of JR's mind and he recoiled, salty tears threatening to spill over. He brushed them away angrily, as Babe's voice filled his head;

"Please, baby. Don't do this. Please."

Gripping the gun so tightly that he could feel the metal imprinting itself on his skin, JR grunted; whether it was in physical or emotional pain, he could barely tell.

"You're dead," he told the voice in his head, "I'm sorry that I couldn't save you. But I can save AJ."

He felt logic fighting back at him so he closed it off, Babe's desperate pleas fading away until all JR was aware of was himself, the gun he was holding and the gaggle of people in the room just a few feet away from him. The room where he had once been so happy…

Gathering his resolve, JR raised the gun to the gap in the wall and, quivering, found his target, his finger tightening around the trigger…

* * *

Marissa smiled as Tad made his speech. She'd only lived in Pine Valley for a few years, but already it felt like she'd been part of its crazy community for decades. Her free hand shifted slightly to find Bianca's, and her smile grew even wider as she felt the other woman's fingers interlock with her own. The past couple of months had been perfect… well, almost perfect.

Just a few minutes ago, she had felt a growing sense of unease at Scott's insistence that he had not texted her about attending this gathering. Her instincts told her that something wasn't quite right... what with all that she'd been through in the past through months with JR and the custody of AJ, a feeling of unexplainable dread had begun to form in the pit of her stomach. But, Bianca had sensed her unease, taken her hand, given her that amazing smile and told her not to worry. Now, she was so caught up in Tad's emotional reminisces that the feeling was far from her mind.

"And again, I always like to think that," Tad went on, a reflective smile on his face, "no matter what; the family, and all my children… you're always with me." He raised his glass. "So here's how. What d'you say?"

A fond round of applause broke out as Marissa raised her glass with the rest. She could see Bianca's smile out of the corner of her eye and it only made her own smile even wider.

Adam raised his hand as he moved to the front of the group of gathered families, friends, neighbours and even the occasional nemesis. "I have one more thing, one more thing, I would like to add, to make these festivities perfect."

A slight hush fell over the room and Marissa felt Bianca squeeze her hand fondly. The two of them turned their attention to the recently-returned Chandler twin.

"Brooke…" Adam reached into his jacket and Marissa felt Bianca's hand squeeze tighter; "I've been holding on to this for quite some time, unable to, uh… offer it to you. But, um, now, with all my heart, ask your permission," he raised aloft a ring, which caught the light and sent a sparkle across the room, "to put this on your finger."

Marissa looked at Bianca and found her girlfriend looking right back at her, the same cheesy grin on her face. An unspoken thought passed between the two of them; they knew that one day, they would be making the same commitment to eachother. They practically already had; moving in together was certainly planned as a permanent, non-reversible arrangement in both of their minds, she knew.

As she turned back to watch the elderly couple, she saw Scott staring at a section of the ceiling with a distracted expression of his face. She barely registered the blip in the room's contented bubble, and returned her attention to Adam and Brooke.

* * *

Scott, on the other hand, was beginning to feel the same unease that had begun welling up in Marissa earlier. His eyes had followed the glint of Stuart's ring across the ceiling until it caught something on the opposite wall. The resultant flash of light was gone in a second, but it was enough to divert Scott's attention. And as he looked more intently, he realised that the panel was not level with the others, as it should be. He'd spent so long making certain that the nearby gatehouse was perfect that this bothered him; he hadn't ever noticed this anomaly before, and he'd been in this room hundreds of times.

Scott shook himself slightly; he was meant to be celebrating the miraculous fact that his adoptive father was still alive, for goodness sake; why was he thinking about the panelling? But he couldn't get away from the feeling that something was somehow very wrong. His eyes began to slowly trace the displaced panel from ceiling to floor, trying to work out why he felt so uneasy all of a sudden. Was there something he was forgetting?

Erica Kane bursting into the room dramatically drew Scott's focus for a couple of seconds, as she restored some drama to the occasion in true Erica Kane fashion. Still distracted, Scott raked his eyes up and down the wall panel – and saw something move.

Scott was now feeling alarm bells beating furiously against the inside of his head, alerting him to something which he couldn't quite make sense of. Squinting, he saw more movement in the slim gloom of the crack – and whatever it was once again caught the light.

Scott's blood ran cold as he realised that it was the shaft of a gun.

Everything clicked into place in the space of a second; he knew exactly where it was pointing, who was standing there, and he had a pretty good idea of who was wielding the weapon. But as he surged to his left in what felt like slow motion, letting out a shout of warning, he saw Marissa fall as he reached her. The shot rang out across the room with a blood-curdling finality, as a deathly shadow loomed over the Chandler mansion.

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**Sorry for the cliff-hanger. Reviews would be hugely appreciated, and they motivate me to write faster. Just sayin'... :P**


	2. After the Shots

**Hi there all! Firstly, sorry that it took me several weeks to update - for some incomprehensible reason I decided to start writing this right before exam season so had to get them out of the way before I could do any more. Plus I've become a little bit obsessed with the ABC show _Castle_, which is amazingby the way :P**

**Secondly, a HUGE thank you to everyone who reviewed the first chapter! I've never received so many reviews on the opening chapter of a story before and I'm really grateful; it's great to know that I have an audience :) I appreciate every review; I can't give everyone a mention as several were anonymous, but thanks among others to rswope86, greyslover112, AmazonianTheifEss, KerinD and dhil, e obrigado a gycah20 ;) And of course a big thanks to everyone who favourited and/or followed.**

**RE dhil; fear not. This is a Minx story; I'm not planning to... well, read on and see ;)**

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The world had descended into a complete blur for Bianca, with the only thing she was sure of being that Marissa was lying in her lap, bleeding. She tried desperately to control the panic which was setting in.

Bianca had been aware of Marissa falling before she had even been able to register or comprehend the shot which had rung out a few milliseconds before. The redhead's upper body had been thrown backwards into Bianca by the impact, but before she could even blink, Scott had been there, standing over them for a split second before his knees buckled and collapsed beneath him. Pain was etched across his face but all Bianca had been aware of was that someone was helping her lower Marissa to the floor, onto her back, and Bianca was finally able to see her face.

For a second, she was terrified to see her lover's eyes closed and still, but a moment later they fluttered open and Marissa's brown eyes found Bianca's. She heard a third shot ring out and somebody scream, but all that Bianca could comprehend was that Marissa blinking back at her. The redhead winced and squinted around.

"What happened?" she croaked.

Bianca doubted that she'd be able to give an answer without her voice cracking, but she was saved from trying by David Hayward's appearance at her side, urgency and a rare expression of terror written across his face. He quickly but gently reached down to locate Marissa's wound; the right side of her dress was stained in a deep, ominous shade of red. This brought Bianca shakily back to her senses and she undid Marissa's shoulder strap, drawing back the front of her dress to let David examine the wound.

After a few seconds, David drew back with a slightly less strained expression, with tinges of relief joining the worry lines written in his face. Bianca looked blankly for a few seconds at a bullet hole in Marissa's chest, on her right side beneath her collarbone, before what it meant rushed back to her and she gave David a desperate shove to get his attention.

"Well? Is she gonna be OK?" In that second, Bianca prayed with every fibre of her being to a God she'd never given much thought to before that the answer would be yes. She couldn't… she just **couldn't **lose Marissa. They were going to be a family; this couldn't be happening…

David ran his hand across his face for a second before answering. "We need to get her to a hospital and to stop the bleeding, but… I don't think it's a life threatening injury. The bullet hasn't gone near her vital organs as far as I can tell. She could have punctured a lung, maybe, but I…"

A fourth shot sounded, much further away this time; from another part of the mansion, maybe, or from outside. Waves of relief were washing over Bianca but she was still terrified. She attempted to regain her hold on reality for a moment, becoming more aware of what was going on around her – and very quickly wishing that she hadn't.

Her mother was lying motionless a few feet away, with Bianca's Uncle Jack, Kendall and Griffin knelt over her. David didn't seem to have registered this either until Griffin called him, in a tone which chilled Bianca to the bone. After hesitating, David darted across to examine Erica; Bianca meanwhile registered Greenlee calling for an ambulance somewhere above her. She felt Marissa moving and realised that the other woman was trying to grasp her hand; she grabbed it tightly and gave a gentle squeeze.

"You're gonna be OK, baby," Bianca told her, trying to convince herself as much as she was Marissa. "Just stay with me. An ambulance is on its way."

Through her pain, Marissa gave her a faint smile.

"Oh, I know. I haven't even had the chance to torture you with my cooking yet!" She gave a broken laugh. "And you just called me 'baby'. That's kinda awesome."

Bianca managed a smile in return.

"Yeah… well you're a pretty awesome person." Bianca heard sirens and exhaled. "They're almost here, baby. Just hold on."

"I'm holding on just fine." Marissa glanced up with the rest of the room as Zach entered through the loosened wall panel. Kendall flew to him and buried her face is his shoulder, both relieved for Zach and terrified for her mother.

"Whoever it was, it looks like the scumbag might've got away. There's no-one back there now," Zach said with a frown, his eyes widening when he saw Erica and Marissa. He scanned the occupants of the room, many of whom were only just raising themselves up off the floor. "Hey, where's Scott? Didn't he get hit too?"

Angie took a shaky breath as she emerged from behind the couch.

"He went out the back with Jesse and Adam. I think Scott knew…" she began, before a look of horror crossed her face. "Oh god; that fourth shot…"

Angie was consoled by Dixie as the sirens drew louder and closer. Bianca looked down at Marissa, who was extremely pale but still fully conscious. Noticing the attention, Marissa tried to give Bianca a reassuring smile, though it came out closer to a grimace.

"If you need to go and be with your mom then it's OK. I'll be fine," Marissa croaked, but Bianca's head shook resolutely.

"I'm not leaving you," she responded firmly, gripping Marissa's hand even tighter. "Not ever; you got that?" She had no room in her head right now for anything but staying by Marissa's side and never letting her go.

Marissa hesitated, closed her eyes and then nodded weakly. Kendall must have noticed their exchange, because she appeared beside the couple at that point, shaking but obviously attempting to hold it together.

"Binx, you stay with your girl. I'll go with Mom in the ambulance… it sounds like they're here. Hang in there, Marissa." Kendall gave a strained twitch of her lips which was intended to be a smile and returned to the still motionless Erica, over whom David and Griffin were conversing intensely in hushed tones. Bianca didn't want to think about what the looks on their faces meant.

In what might have been a few moments or a few minutes later, armed police officers burst into the room, quickly followed by Jesse (prompting a cry of relief from Angie) and several medics bearing stretchers. Bianca kept a firm grip on Marissa's hand as she was examined, then moved agonisingly slowly (but gently) onto a stretcher and up onto a gurney. Bianca was vaguely aware of Kendall and David having some kind of dispute, but she couldn't see her mother, who was obscured by two medics, and Marissa's shaky but steady breathing continued to be the only thing that was fully registering with her.

It was at that point that Bianca realised that Marissa was being moved; she got to her feet and followed the ambulance crew out, still clutching her girlfriend tightly. She had to release her briefly when she was lifted into the awaiting ambulance, and Bianca was again snapped from her trance of sorts when an arm stopped her from following.

"What are you doing!?" Bianca spat at its owner, suddenly overcome with anger and confusion.

"Are you family?" the medic asked; Bianca gave him a thunderous look of incredulity. She felt the slight chill of the fall evening for the first time, but didn't care. The man was not budging and the ambulance would be leaving any second.

Bianca could feel herself beginning to panic as she tried to get a glimpse of Marissa, who had vanished into the vehicle, but Krystal made a timely appearance as she emerged from the mansion.

"That's my daughter in there," she informed the medic icily. "This is her girlfriend, you are letting her on board and you are not going to waste any more time arguing about this. Do you understand?" The man hesitated very briefly before nodding, returning to the front of the vehicle. Krystal switched her attention to Bianca.

"Look after her. I'll meet you at the hospital once the police are done here."

Bianca nodded and Krystal helped her up into the ambulance. For the first time, a certain unpleasant thought entered her mind.

"Did they get the shooter? Who..?"

Krystal gave her a grim look, but the doors closed before she could say anything more. In the enclosed, brightly-lit space, Bianca's focus returned to the face of her girlfriend, who was now strapped down. The woman who meant more to her now than she'd even realised was possible before…

As the vehicle began to move, Marissa's heavy eyes opened again and locked with Bianca's. Her face looked exhausted and weak, but her eyes held firm and fiery as ever.

"Everything's gonna be OK," she said, her restrained hand somehow finding Bianca's once more.

Bianca sure hoped that she was right.

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**I will try to update as soon as I can; remember, reviews are like chocolate cake and rainbows to an author ;)**


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